I mentioned on Friday that Husband and I were taking the train to the Dallas Zoo. We felt that Son was old enough to possibly begin to remember the event, and thus worth the 15 dollar ticket we had to buy him. We decided to take the train, mostly to save the gas and the 7 dollar parking fee. but also because Son loves trains.

When we got to the station, we didn’t know what to expect. We had never taken the local public transport, and my only real experience with ANY public transport wasn’t American. So we arrived, and Husband bought our tickets from an automated kiosk. Then we waited, and we didn’t have to wait for long. I had checked the schedule before we left, and we only arrived 10 minutes early. When the train pulled in to the station, Son’s eyes got wide. And once we were on board, he was down right giddy with excitement, which made me giddy!

The ride was pleasant. The train wasn’t crowded, and there weren’t any crazies around. 50 minutes later, we arrived at the front gate of the Zoo.

Oh, and the Zoo? It was amazing. It was the first zoo I’ve ever been to where I actually wanted to be the animal. The habitats were so nice. A perfect example was the Tiger habitat. The viewing areas were hidden amongst a bamboo forest. I finally understood how an orange, striped animal could be camouflaged. Heck, it took us forever to find the tigers. And the Elephants? They just weren’t in a dusty pen, there was a river, green grass, a mud hole, and lots of trees and logs. Oh, and the Cajun crocs were housed in a pond under mossy trees, and a “back porch” playing zydeco music.

So the final verdict was that it was all amazing. We loved the train and the zoo. Husband even agreed to ride the train again. Maybe we will start exploring our own down town this summer. I’m a full convert.